Four players pull out of NI squad

Four players have withdrawn from the Northern Ireland squad to face Georgia in Wednesday night's friendly game at Windsor Park.

Winger Chris Brunt has been struggling with a hamstring injury and Derby goalkeeper Roy Carroll has suffered a recurrence of a groin strain.

Striker Martin Paterson is in hospital with gastroenteritis and Sammy Clingan is on club duty with Nottingham Forest.

Gareth McAuley is also rated doubtful and Kyle Lafferty is an injury worry.

Leicester defender McAuley is carrying an injury but has told manager Nigel Worthington that he will report for duty and see if the problem improves.

Burnley striker Lafferty limped off with a thigh injury on Saturday and Hibernian striker Dean Shiels may be called up to join the panel.

Clingan's club have fixtures on Monday and Friday as they seek promotion from League One.

Carroll had returned to the squad after a period of self-imposed international exile and was part of a 22-man panel named by Nigel Worthington last Monday.

In addition to these worries, Worthington must hope that Linfield trio Alan Mannus, Michael Gault and Peter Thompson come through Tuesday's league game against Coleraine unscathed.

N Ireland squad: Taylor (Birmingham City), Mannus (Linfield), Baird (Fulham), Hughes (Fulham), Craigan (Motherwell), McAuley (Leicester City), McCartney (West Ham), Evans (Manchester Utd, on loan at Sunderland), Davis (Fulham, on loan at Rangers), Johnson (Birmingham City), Gillespie (Sheffield Utd), O'Connor (Crewe Alexandra), Elliott (Hull City, on loan at Doncaster Rovers), Gault (Linfield), Healy (Fulham), Lafferty (Burnley), Thompson (Linfield), Feeney (Cardiff City).

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